Madhouse Studio is a Japanese animation studio established in 1972 by former Mushi Pro animators, including Masao Maruyama, Osamu Dezaki, Rintaro, and Yoshiaki Kawajiri. Madhouse has produced some of the best anime of all time. Madhouse is widely regarded as one of the big powerhouse studios in anime.
Its first project was an anime series, and since then, it has created and helped in the making of many famous shows, OVAs, and films. From 1972 to the present day, this studio has made various anime titles that have become very successful in the market. This is especially impressive in the current era when anime studios compete to present the best works.
Note: Anime sequels are not included. Also, this is not a ranked list.
The Best Madhouse Anime of All Time
Without further ado, here's a list of the best Madhouse anime of all time:
1. Perfect Blue
Pop singer Kirigoe Mima looks forward to a bright new career after quitting her successful band to become an actress. When she lands a role in a sexually charged murder mystery, Mima's life begins to fall apart. Reality and hallucination merge into a terrifying world where innocence is lost, and dreams become nightmares.
Quickly descending into a dangerous state of paranoid delusions, Mima watches as internet sites appear, describing every intimate detail of her life. She is helpless and afraid as her associates are threatened and killed by a mysterious stalker.
2. Paranoia Agent
Mousou Dairinin is about a social phenomenon in Musashino, Tokyo, caused by a juvenile serial assailant named Lil' Slugger (Shounen Bat, or Bat Boy in the original Japanese version).
The plot oscillates among a large cast of people affected in some way by the phenomenon, usually Shounen Bat's victims or the detectives assigned to apprehend him. As each character becomes the story's focus, details are revealed about their secret lives and the truth about Shounen Bat.
3. Paprika
Dr. Atsuko Chiba works as a scientist by day and, under the code name “Paprika,” is a dream detective at night. Atsuko and her colleagues are working on a device called the DC Mini, which is intended to help psychiatric patients, but in the wrong hands, it could destroy people's minds. When a prototype is stolen, Atsuko/Paprika springs into action to recover it before damage is done.
4. Nana
One day Komatsu Nana (Hachi) decides to go to Tokyo, where she wants to start a new life with her boyfriend, Shouji. There are only a few seats free on the train, and thus she decides to sit next to a girl named Oosaki Nana.
As a vocalist, Nana aims to debut in Tokyo with her punk band Blast to become professional musicians. Her boyfriend Ren had already made it as a guitarist for the famous Trapnest there.
After arriving in Tokyo, their ways part — or so it seems. When searching for a flat to live in, they meet again and eventually decide to share it together. This strengthens their bond, and together the Nanas go through their love lives and careers in Tokyo.
5. Chihayafuru
6th-year grade-schooler Ayase Chihaya's dream is for her sister to be Japan's top model. However, transfer student Wataya Arata admonishes her that a dream must be about one's own self. Thus, she takes up karuta, a Japanese card game, competitively. Together with Arata and Mashima Taichi, Chihaya's childhood friend, they have great fun playing with each other but separate after graduation.
Four years later, Chihaya returns to town. Although Arata no longer plays the game, she believes that they will eventually reunite as long as she continues karuta. Together with Taichi, she establishes the Mizusawa High-school Karuta Club.
6. Paradise Kiss
Yukari is a typical high school student who listens to her parents and attends school every day. As she starts to question her way of life, she encounters a group of fashion design students who own a clothing label known as Paradise Kiss. The group needs to find a model to showcase their designs in an upcoming fashion show and decides to pick Yukari.
Initially, Yukari is reluctant to be associated with this seemingly eccentric group, but eventually, she realizes that they are really nice people. Furthermore, their passion and enthusiasm to follow their ideals and dreams make Yukari realize that she has not been enjoying her life and motivate her to pursue her own dreams. Yukari gets increasingly involved with the group and eventually falls in love with the leader, George.
7. Claymore
The hybrid warrior Clare and her comrades fight to protect their land from shapeshifting demons.
8. Boogiepop Phantom
A scream in the night, and in that instant, the world changed… or at least, it appeared to. Boogiepop, also called Death, hangs out in the city, and whenever you encounter it, she'll take you with her. Kirima Nagi, a high school student, seems to be fighting Boogiepop, or at least trying to.
But then there are disappearances everywhere, and strange happenings occur. And nobody sees the link between them. In a mixture of chaos and thrilling horror, Nagi tries to find out what is happening and why it still hasn't happened to her.
9. Devil May Cry
Dante, a renowned demon hunter half-demon and half-human, is hired through his business named Devil May Cry to battle evil where it may lurk.
10. Parasyte
17-year-old Shinichi Izumi is partially infected by a Parasyte – monsters that butcher and consume humans. He must learn to co-exist with the creature if he is to survive both the life of a Parasyte and human, as a part monster and part person.
11. Kaiji
Itou Kaiji is a bum who steals car emblems and slashes tires regularly. However, one day, this routine changes when a man in a trench coat pays him a visit. The man reveals himself as Endou, a debt collector who has come to claim an unpaid loan of 300,000 yen, which Kaiji had previously co-signed with his co-worker, Furuhata Takeshi.
Because of Takeshi's disappearance, Kaiji is left with an overwhelming debt but is given a chance to gamble against other bankrupt bums aboard a boat. Each gambler is loaned additional money, giving them a chance to pay their dues or become in even deeper debt.
Kaiji accepts the challenge in hopes of repaying the compounded debt of 3,850,000 yen and, with luck, winning additional cash…
12. Overlord
In the year 2138, when virtual reality gaming is booming: Yggdrasil, a popular online game, is quietly shut down one day. However, the protagonist, Momonga, decides not to log out and transforms into a powerful skeletal wizard.
The world continues to change, with non-player characters (NPCs) beginning to feel emotions. Having no parents, friends, or place in society, this ordinary young man Momonga strives to take over the new world the game has become.
13. Beck
Tanaka Yukio, better known by his nickname Koyuki is a 14-year-old who feels disconnected from life in general. While saving a mismatched dog, he meets guitarist Minami Ryuusuke and becomes involved in Ryuusuke's new band, BECK. Koyuki's life starts to change as the band struggles toward fame.
14. Monster
Dr. Tenma Kenzou is a very talented Japanese doctor and is praised by all doctors in Germany. But he changes after witnessing a woman crying over her partner, who died because someone else got more priority at the hospital. He decides he wouldn't treat anyone differently. Everyone is equal.
But one day, Tenma has to work on a little boy who was shot during the murder of his parents. He decides to save the boy's life because he was first in line.
But then, the children start to disappear, and the murders begin. Tenma, feeling both guilt and worry, goes off to investigate the case since he feels that it is somehow related to him. So, the horror begins for Tenma and everyone he meets while searching for the children.
15. Death Note
An intelligent high school student goes on a secret crusade to eliminate criminals from the world after discovering a notebook capable of killing anyone whose name is written into it.
16. Death Parade
After death, humans go to either heaven or hell. But for some, at the instant of their death, they arrive at the Quindecim, a bar attended by the mysterious white-haired Decim. He challenges them to the Death Game, wherein they wager their lives and reveal their true natures.
17. No Game No Life
Siblings Sora and Shiro together make up the most feared team of pro gamers in the world, The Blank. When they manage to beat god himself in a game of chess, they are sent to a world where all disputes are settled with games.
18. One Punch Man
The story of Saitama, a hero that does it just for fun & can defeat his enemies with a single punch.
19. Hajime No Ippo
Makunouchi Ippo is an ordinary high school student in Japan. Since he spends most of his time away from school helping his mother run the family business, he doesn't get to enjoy his younger years like most teenagers. Always a target for bullying at school (the family fishing business grants him a distinct odor), Ippo's life is one of hardship.
One of these after-school bullying sessions turns Ippo's life around for the better, as he is saved by a boxer named Takamura. He decides to follow in Takamura's footsteps and train to become a boxer, giving his life direction and purpose. Ippo's path to perfecting his pugilistic prowess is just beginning…
20. Diamond No Ace
Eijun Sawamura is a gifted baseball player who has extraordinary talent as a pitcher. His goal is, to become the ace of Seidou High School.
21. Btoom!
You're stuck on survival island until you gather seven gems, and the only way to get gems is by killing other people.
22. Hunter X Hunter
Gon Freecss aspires to become a Hunter, an exceptional being capable of greatness. With his friends and his potential, he seeks his father, who left him when he was younger.
23. Sakura Card Captor
Sakura stumbles upon the book of Clow Cards in a library. Accidentally setting the magical cards loose, it's now up to Sakura to catch them all with her best friend, Tomoyo, and Kerberos, the guardian of the cards.
24. The Irregular at Magic High School
In the dawn of the 21st century, magic, long thought to be folklore and fairy tales, has become a systematized technology and is taught as a technical skill. In First High School, the institution for magicians, students are segregated into two groups based on their entrance exam scores: “Blooms,” those who receive high scores, are assigned to the First Course, while “Weeds” are reserve students assigned to the Second Course.
Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei follows the siblings, Tatsuya and Miyuki Shiba, who are enrolled in First High School. Upon taking the exam, the prodigious Miyuki is placed in the First Course, while Tatsuya is relegated to the Second Course.
Though his practical test scores and status as a “Weed” show him to be magically inept, he possesses extraordinary technical knowledge, physical combat capabilities, and unique magic techniques—making Tatsuya the irregular at a magical high school.
25. Chobits
Hideki finds the discarded and malfunctioning Persocom Chi, a personal computer that looks like a girl. While trying to fix and care for Chi, Hideki discovers that she might be a Chobits, a robot of urban legend with free will.
26. Millennium Actress
A TV interviewer and his cameraman meet a former actress and travel through her memories and career.
27. Ore Monogatari
A pretty young girl and a sweet but plain-looking boy fall in love. Will their relationship prevail?
28. Black Lagoon
A Japanese businessman, captured by modern-day pirates, is written off and left for dead by his company. Tired of corporate life, he opts to stick with the mercenaries that kidnapped him, becoming part of their gang.
29. Redline
A story about the most popular racing event in the galaxy, the Redline, and the various racers who compete in it.
30. High School of The Dead
High school students are overwhelmed by the start of the zombie apocalypse.
31. Hellsing Ultimate
The vampire Alucard, his master Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing, and his newly sired ward Seras Victoria try to protect England from a war-crazed SS-Major who seeks to start an eternal war with his vampire army.
This article was produced and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.